Nancy Pelosi told Rachel Maddow Wednesday that she thinks Florida governor Rick Scott’s voter purging tactics are “ridiculous beyond words,” and that Republicans are “afraid of the people, afraid of their votes.”

Maddow reported that during Rick Scott’s voter purge last spring, 82 percent of the names on the list were minorities, and 98 percent who responded to the demand for proof of citizenship wound up being citizens.

The Miami Herald reported today that Scott sent Florida counties a list of another 198 potential non-citizens who he wants purged from the voter rolls, including 36 who might have voted illegally.

Asked about these tactics during a live interview on The Rachel Maddow Show, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told Maddow: “Don’t agonize, organize.” She added that Democrats should “shine a bright light on” these tactics, because they’re “just plain wrong.”

Republicans, Pelosi continued, are trying to “suffocate the airwaves, suppress the vote, poison the debate, [so] people throw up their hands and say, ‘I just don’t even know if I want to participate in this.’” But, “we have to keep the campaign positive.”

“Governor Scott is ridiculous beyond words in what he is trying to do to his own people,” Pelosi continued. “They’re afraid of the people. They’re afraid of their votes, and they have to suppress them.”